For the past two months merchants
and bike lovers around the Valley have been banning together to
create a treasure hunt that they hope may just brighten the
economy.

The first ever Bad Economy Buster
Bling Bike Hunt sent participants to merchants across the Valley to
gather clues and try to win a Sucker Punch Sally
motorcycle.

For nine weeks participants
gathered codes from participating merchants near them. These codes
were then plugged into a website and at the beginning of each week
the next clue was revealed.

Julia Hutton, lead sponsor of Bike
Hunt, said it was all about getting the community involved. Hutton,
an Ahwatukee Foothills resident, is the founder and CEO of Biker
Babes and Beyond, a clothing store for men and women in Cottonwood,
Ariz. She said when they opened their doors they could see a lot of
promise, but they just needed some more foot
traffic.

“We really thought we needed to do
something and the more we talked about it the more we realized
everyone else needed it to,” Hutton said. “So we banned together.
We came up with this idea and approached Christian Clayton with it
and he loved it. The response has exceeded our wildest
expectations.”

Volunteers were sent out all over
the Valley to find merchants who wanted to help. Participants were
not required to buy anything from the merchants to get their clue,
the idea was just to promote them and let participants know about
great hangout spots in their neighborhood.

On Tuesday, March 30, the final
keys to the motorcycle were found by Shawn Lukin of
Scottsdale.

“I was pretty numb,” said Lukin,
36, a motorcycle mechanic and cab driver. “Everything in my body
just went numb and I was shaking really bad. Once I calmed down a
little bit I just couldn’t believe I had those keys in my hand and
that I had won.”

Lukin said he joined the
competition because he’s always wanted a Sucker Punch Sally bike.
He’s been riding it every day.

Hutton said the group had so much
success that they plan to do another Bike Hunt
soon.

“We’ve had a lot of merchants
approach us and say they’d like to do it so we’ll take a breather
for a few weeks and then start planning again,” she
said.

Lukin’s advice for anyone wanting
to participate is to clear your schedule. “You need to be available
to go on a whim,” he said. “Being a cab driver I’m my own boss so I
had that freedom. I think that’s the only way I was able to keep up
on it and go look for clues.”

The group will be celebrating the
Bike Hunt Sunday, April 10, at 2 p.m. at Buffalo Chip Saloon and
Steakhouse in Cave Creek. The custom bike won by Lukin will be on
display at the celebration.

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